Power. It was the only way to keep this home and village safe. It was what his father had taught him from a young age, and his father...and his father…

But getting power wasn't as easy, unfortunately. In addition, as more of his villagers began to master their chakras, the riskier it became to steal their power. In order to keep his village safe, Danzo knew that he needed to do everything in his power to ensure law and order. Even if it meant being seen as the bad guy by some.

Danzo smirked as he thought about Minato Namikaze, his annoying wife Kushina, and their brat Naruto. With the recent rise in villagers escaping to other regions, Minato had decided to run for Hokage. He promises freedom and peace to the villagers. And how, you may ask? By forming alliances with nearby villages and prominent clans. Most importantly, the Uchiha Clan…

"Fool," Danzo thought as he put on his robe, "As if those Uchihas could be trusted…"

He laughed… To him, Minato was just like those other fools preaching the same crap. All talk but with no experience in what the real world is truly about.

But he would show him. He would show him and anybody else who dared challenge him what a true leader is about.

The night was cold, forcing Rin to hug her knees tightly as her body trembled against the ground. The men jailed in the cells around her snored loudly, making it harder for her to sleep.

"Hope you're alright, Tenten," she said softly, thinking about her sister.

She hoped that Kakashi was keeping an eye out on her. But one way or another, she had to go back to her village for her family. Rin wasn't sure when that would be, but knew that it was something she would aim for.

XxXxX

By the time it was morning, Rin woke up feeling warmer. In addition, her head wasn't lying on the ground. Instead, it was supported by a small pillow. The cape given to her by Kakashi was on top of her, followed by an actual blanket over that. Rin snuggled against both pieces of fabric, immediately noting the distinct smell of the blanket. It smelled...familiar. But she couldn't place her mind on why.

One of the men jailed across from her sighed, and Rin turned her head before facing away immediately. The man laughed as he urinated by a corner.

"What? Never seen a man taking a piss before, darling? It's called biology!"

She decided to ignore him while facing the wall.

"Maybe she doesn't know what it is," another male said, "And we should show her…"

"Or maybe she does… And is scared of the fact that she'll have to show hers to us…"

Rin's eyes widened at the terrible realization. There was barely any privacy in her small cell, which meant that if she had to use the bathroom, it would be in front of them. And she could hold it, but only for so long. She could already feel the need to urinate, and cursed at the situation. Maybe whoever brought her the pillow and blanket could allow her some time to wash up?

Closing her eyes tightly, Rin thought of her family and past moments of when Tenten would try to teach her how to throw kunais or summon things through scrolls.

"We have detected another small group of Suna shinobis making their way towards us," an informant stated.

"More?" Mikoto asked tiredly as her husband sighed in annoyance, "Why do they keep sending them?"

"They want our land," Fugaku replied, "Suna is nothing but sand. Their water supply and vegetation is limited. They are becoming desperate. Reports have come in of their people dying of starvation and dehydration,"

"So the Kazekage thinks that he will accomplish something by sending random ninjas our way?" another male Uchiha asked.

"Kazekage's army is weak, so possibly. But we must not treat this lightly. This could all be part of a bigger plan from the Kazekage himself,"

"Then what should we do?"

"We'll send a few of our men to spy on them. We have already shown mercy to some of their people, but it seems as if they want to test our strength. Obito, Shisui… Go investigate this. And if need be, don't be shy from using force,"

The men nodded, and the meeting shortly ended with the members leaving Fugaku's compound.

Noticing the smirk on Izumi's face, Obito walked over to her.

"I just checked on our prisoners,"

"And?"

"Interesting how the girl has a blanket and a pillow… When I don't remember giving her one,"

The corner of his lips rose, "You caught me…"

"Did she ask you for them?"

"...No,"

"Then how…" her eyes then narrowed at him, "You sneaked in to see her, didn't you!?"

"And if I did?"

Izumi sighed before relaxing her shoulders, "You know you're like a big brother to me? I don't want to see you get hurt. We don't know anything about her, and you're here showing her mercy. She's a prisoner!"

"I have to go," he said, starting to walk away from her, "We'll continue this discussion when I return. I'll decide what we do with her,"

Izumi said something else but he didn't pay attention as he disappeared.

He landed right outside the gate of their small village, Shisui waiting for him with his arms crossed.

"Ready?"

"Yeah,"

They hopped from tree to tree, their eyes scanning the area carefully. It was all quiet, with the exception of a few birds humming here and there.

After a couple of hours, they decided to rest. As Shisui napped on a branch, Obito closed his eyes and thought about Rin. He had trouble sleeping last night, and the fact that she was stuck in a jail cell bothered him tremendously. He had wanted to see her, and activating his Sharingan he did just that.

But when he appeared right at the center of her cell, his heart nearly broke as he saw her trembling against the ground. She had her arms wrapped around her legs in order to keep as warm as possible. Without much thought, he left her cell in order to fetch a blanket for her. The cape she had worn had been stowed away in his bedroom, and he grabbed it alongside an extra blanket of his. He also looked at the mess of pillows on his bed, figuring he had too many of them anyway. He immediately reappeared into her cell with them, placing the cape over her body followed by the blanket. It wasn't until he was placing the pillow under her head that he noticed the scars on her back. Scars that resembled recent beating. He had lightly touched one of them, and her body immediately flinched. He had remained still, watching as she remained asleep. His dark eyes went back to the bruises, and he made a mental note of asking her about them. He knew that the men who had kidnapped her didn't do it, as he had been watching them for a while before placing one of them in a Genjutsu.

Obito figured that her bruises most likely happened before then, possibly while leaving Konoha. Did that mean she had been escaping from someone? Opening his eyes, he knew that he couldn't wait until this mission was over so he could see her again. Something about her grabbed his interest the moment he laid eyes on her as she had been dragged through the forest by those scums. Despite wanting to jump in sooner, he and his clansmen decided to wait to see what the men had in mind. But even as he waited, his eyes had never left her. He had placed the genjutsu on one of the men, achieving his goal of causing them to panic and disperse. Afterwards, he searched for her, saving her from drowning at the very last minute.

"Seems like there's no one around," Shisui said, interrupting his train of thought.

Obito nodded, and both men left the scene. As they travelled back home, jumping from tree to tree, Obito stumbled upon a purple flower growing nearby a small area. The color reminded him of Rin's purple markings, and without much thought he plucked the flower from the ground and continued on.

Rin had been very glad for Izumi's two visits so far, even though the Uchiha girl wasn't fond of her. During the first visit, she had inquired Rin where the pillow and blanket had come from. And Rin could only shrug, not knowing herself. She had then asked the girl for a bathroom, and sighed in happiness when her cell door was unlocked and she was let out.

The bathroom was a small room with a toilet and washroom adjacent to the cellar. Nonetheless, it was better than taking a squat in her cell.

During the second visit, the same Uchiha girl appeared again to bring some food. Rin gladly accepted it, even though it wasn't much. It had been some water with a piece of bread.

"I will come again in the evening," she had said before leaving.

Even though the cellar had no windows, Rin could tell that it was getting later in the day. Her eyes were becoming heavier, even though she barely moved from her spot. The jailed men around her would occasionally tease her, yelling perverted things to her.

Nearly two hours later, Izumi stopped by in order to bring her some food and let her use the restroom. The food, once again, was nothing but a piece of bread and water. It was the same thing the other guards had given the locked up men.

On their way to the small restroom, Rin cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me?"

The Uchiha girl turned her head to her, "What is it?"

"Is it OK if I could also wash up this time? I'm...feeling uncomfortable in my own skin,"

The girl narrowed her eyes at her, "Fine…. But you'll only get ten minutes. If I sense anything strange, I won't hesitate to kill you,"

Rin nodded. Had she had Tenten's strength and courage, she probably could've tried to overtake the Uchiha girl. But she wasn't, as most of her focus had been on becoming a medical expert.

Izumi took her to a second bathroom, all still within the cellar. This one was much bigger, and Rin immediately did her business before removing her clothing and getting into the shower area. The warm water felt great as it washed away some of the grime, dirt, and sweat off her body. Even though there was no soap, she could feel her skin become clean.

"You have one minute left!" came the girl's voice.

"Coming!"

Turning off the water, Rin put on her clothes and opened the door. She gave a warm smile to her, "Thank you,"

Izumi said nothing as she led her back to her cell.

"How long...will I be staying here?" Rin asked.

"Until a decision is made on what to do with you," the girl replied, locking her up again and disappearing.

Rin sighed sadly and sat back down on the ground.

"Ya' think that just because you're a girl, they will let you go?" One of the jailed men said.

Rin turned her head away from him. He and his friends were the reason she was in this mess anyway.

"They are Uchihas. In case you've forgotten, they show no mercy to their prisoners. None of us is leaving here alive,"

XxXxX

The next morning, she woke up to another surprise. Next to her head was a purple flower, and she picked it up curiously. There was no way it could have grown in her cell. The ground was nothing but hard dirt. There was no vegetation at all, or sunlight. The flower was small, yet it brought a smile to her face as it was one of the few colorful things in the cellar.

She heard a sigh, and turned her head to find the Uchiha girl nearly rolling her eyes. "Obito…" she muttered in annoyance, and Rin's eyebrows raised.

"H-Huh?"

The girl looked back down at her through the cell's bars. "Seems like Obito paid you a second visit last night…"

"Obito?" Rin said curiously.

"Yes, the same man who brought you here in the first place. He was the one who also brought the blanket and pillow to you the night before. Now come on, I have a mission to go to,"

Rin followed her to the washroom, her mind still on the fact that Obito had appeared in her cell twice. And during each visit, he brought her something. The fact that he left a flower for her made her feel, in a way, special. She had barely given much thought to romance back in Konoha, considering that the majority of the males were placed into Anbu from a young age. Some of them learn bad habits and abuse their power, especially towards women.

After performing the quick normal routine, Izumi led her back to her cell before disappearing. Rin ate the small food provided to her - bread, water, but with a piece of apple included this time - and wondered more into Obito's actions. He barely knew anything about her, yet went out of his way to bring her a pillow and blanket in order to keep warm. And now a flower. Was he trying to tell her something?

The men jailed around her were whispering about something. For once, they weren't teasing her or looking in her direction. In a way, it was good. It meant not hearing any perverted comments. Nonetheless, the fact that they were all standing in the corner of their cells whispering about something made her suspicious. They were up to something, even though they had no weapons or significant amounts of chakra.

Sighing, she ignored what they were doing and decided to meditate. She wasn't sure how long she would be stuck in this dark and dirty cell, but knew that she had to get out. Her mind went to Obito and wondered if maybe he was her ticket out of here. That probably meant understanding the intentions he had for her. Pillow and blanket was one thing, but a flower?

Feeling more determined than ever, Rin decided to take small naps throughout the day. That way, she could be awake for his third visit. To make herself tired for the day, she performed push ups and handstands. She would have to thank Tenten later for teaching her how to do the latter. The men, once again, ignored her as they continued to whisper amongst themselves.

Rin narrowed her eyes at them, knowing very well that they were up to something…

XxXxX

Despite taking several naps to keep herself from falling asleep, at some point her body had given up an hour after midnight. Nonetheless, considering she hadn't been too tired, her eyes started to flutter and her body moved the moment she heard light footsteps. Remembering her plan, she quickly sat up and raised her head towards a black shadow standing nearly a foot away from her. Two bright red eyes stared back at her, and Rin crawled backwards as her heart dropped in fear. The red eyes changed a bit as the person moved closer to her.

"Don't be afraid," came the familiar voice, quickly registering it as Obito's. "It's just me,"

"Obito," she whispered, her hand on her chest as she tried to calm rapidly beating heart, "Y-You scared me…"

"Sorry about that," he said, yet his eyes were still bright red.

She turned her head towards the other cells, notificing how the other men were still asleep. "How are they still…?"

"I placed them all in a Genjutsu. They don't know I am here,"

"Is that how you've been able to stop by for the last two nights unnoticed?"

There was a pause before his response, "...Partially,"

Rin said nothing to that, not immediately at least. Instead, she looked back at him and tried her best to examine his face. But with the area being extremely dark, she couldn't see anything.

"Thank you for the pillow and blanket…."

He said nothing to that, the red eyes facing elsewhere. She figured that he was looking at something else.

"...And the flower is beautiful,"

"It reminded me of you," he said, and she couldn't help but smile. The purple markings on her face were unique. It was something she inherited from her grandmother on her father's side.

"How long will I stay here?" she quickly asked. She was still a prisoner to him and his clan, despite the hospitality from him. Every minute that she stayed in this dark musty cell impacted her mentality more and more. She needed to get out. She needed to be free.

"That is yet to be decided," was Obito's response, which did nothing but anger her.

"Why? Am I to be locked up here forever?"

"No," he quickly said, and Rin heard him shuffle. "I must go. But I will see you tomorrow night,"

There was a small twirl, and suddenly the red eyes were gone. Feeling defeated, Rin laid back down. Her hands grabbed the purple flower, now dying due to lack of sunlight and water. She thought about her future. If she were to stay in this same cell, she would also wither away like this flower.

She looked at the snoring men, her eyes narrowing as her mind reached a decision. It would be a dangerous one, but it would at least guarantee her freedom.

The next morning…

Izumi took her to the washroom as usual. Typically, Rin would try to have some sort of conversation with the girl. But the Uchiha wouldn't budge, letting her know that she couldn't waste time as she had duties to perform.

This time, though, Rin remained silent. She thought about the plan multiple times. The men had already been awake, their eyes on her.

"I can help you," Rin said, and all of them turned their heads to her.

"Oh?" one of them stood in his cell, "And how? You're no ninja,"

"You're right, I am not. But every morning the same girl takes me to the restroom for ten minutes. I may not know how to fight, but I know several techniques that can help,"

"Tell us more about your technique, and we can help you get out..."

Rin opened her eyes just as they stood in front of the door.

"Alright, go. You have ten minutes," Izumi said.

Rin stood still instead, and the girl turned to her. "Didn't you hear what I said? You have-"

She touched Izumi's wrist and mustered all of the chakra within her. Within seconds, the Uchiha's eyes became heavy and swayed back and forth. Rin sat the now unconscious girl near the restroom door before grabbing a pair of keys from her and running back to one of the cells. She looked up at the jailed man standing across from her.

"Pretty cool technique, eh girl?"

"It'll only last for about fifteen minutes. It just puts her in a deep sleep," While the technique was effective, it always took a toll on her energy. And generally, it always took about a day for her to recover. But she didn't want to admit that outloud.

She handed over the keys to him, and he opened his cell door. He then unlocked the door for the rest of his men, and Rin watched as they all turned to her. Her heart beated nervously, wondering what they were going to do.

"Let's go," and true to their word, the men kicked the door open and fought off the two guards by the front.

Despite the sudden brightness bothering her eyes - considering she had been locked up in darkness for days - Rin knew that she had no time to waste. With the two guards now down, she ran alongside the men. Three more Shinobis arrived, immediately taking down one of the prisoners.

"Keep running straight!" she heard one of the men yell, and she did just that.

It was now her and two other men escaping the small village. There was a tall wooden wall, and one of the men used a technique to blow a hole through it.

Her legs began to protest, her back aching from the previous injury. But Rin kept running even as they reached the deep forest. And she would keep running until she had freedom in her hands.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Let me know in a review! Until next time!